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It Happened On #62

Today I’m back to my normal posting time. Not busy today but I do plan on playing Hitman Contracts today so I’ll be out of the office for most of today

It happened on November 29 1942…coffee joins the list of items rationed in the United States. Despite record coffee production in Latin American countries, the growing demand for the bean from both military and civilian sources, and the demands placed on shipping, which was needed for other purposes, required the limiting of its availability

Scarcity or shortages were rarely the reason for rationing during the war. Rationing was generally employed for two reasons: (1) to guarantee a fair distribution of resources and foodstuffs to all citizens; and (2) to give priority to military use for certain raw materials, given the present emergency

Some items came off the rationing list early; coffee was released as early as July 1943, but sugar was rationed until June 1947

Also on November 29 1967, Robert S. McNamara announces that he will resign as Secretary of Defence and will become president of the World Bank

Formerly the president of Ford Motor Company, McNamara had served as Secretary of Defence under 2 presidents. He initially supported U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War and encouraged President Johnson to escalate in 1964, but he later began privately to question U.S. policy and eventually advocated a negotiated settlement to the war. In the summer of 1967, he helped draft the San Antonio formula, a peace proposal offering to end the U.S. bombing of the north and asking North Vietnam to join in productive discussions. The North Vietnamese rejected the proposal in October

Early in November, McNamara submitted a memorandum to Johnson recommending that the United States freeze its troop levels, cease the bombing of the north, and turn over responsibility for fighting the ground war to the South Vietnamese. Johnson rejected these recommendations outright. McNamara subsequently resigned